submitted by Barron School Second Grade Second grade at the Barron is gearing up for the month long Native American unit. Students will be learning about the natives of the Woodlands, Plains, Northwest, Far North and Southwest. In addition to doing extensive reading about each native group, students will be creating crafts that depict each tribe’s specialties. This hands-on experience is both educational and memorable for each child. During the month of May, second graders will be practicing their division and multiplication facts, learning that division is just subtracting over and over and multiplication is repeated addition. Students are having a great time stretching their minds and being able to do math just like the “big kids.” Everyone at the Barron is looking forward to the end of the year activities such a field day,

awards day and the final field trips. Hope to see some of you at these exciting occasions! Barron Heroes Program Student will be awarded “Herograms” for demonstrating a positive behavior in themed areas for each month. March and Aprils themes: Self-Discipline and Integrity - keeping your emotions, words, and actions under control while doing your best to do the “right thing.”

submitted by Salem High School Salem High School computer teacher Curt Killion will be awarded the 2012 Running Start Advocate of the Year award for Manchester Community College on May 8 at the Grappone Conference Center in Concord. Mr. Killion was nominated for this award for his ongoing support of the Running Start program and his many years of dedicated Running Start service teaching several of the Computer Science courses at Salem High School. Mr. Killion has played an important role in expanding Running Start course offerings in Salem and preparing his students for college success. Since 2001 there have been 1,760 Salem High School students who have participated in the Running Start program, and Mr. Killion has made it possible for 435 of his students to earn college credit through this program – 25 percent of Salem’s total. Mr. Killion always impresses students and adults alike with his enthusiasm and knowledge of the subjects he teaches and the respect that his students have for him as their teacher. He can be counted on to stay current in the challenging and constantly evolving field of Computer Science.

submitted by Salem High School The New England Association for Woodworking Teachers is the national model for a strong group of dedicated and highly trained professional woodworking teachers. At their spring meeting, the annual Teacher of the Year award was bestowed. The 2012 Teacher of the Year is Jay Hudson, from Salem High School. The Teacher of the Year Award is given annually to an experienced teacher who has maintained and developed excellent programs in the field over an extended period. Mr. Hudson has been teaching since 1981, and this award acknowledges the long-term hard work he has given in service to the children of Salem. For the past 11 years, Mr. Hudson has taught three levels of Wood Technology classes at Salem high School, ranging from basic woodworking skills to dove-tail drawer construction, mortise and tenon joinery, blind dados, tapers, and advanced wood turning. Each year, his students enter one finished product in the New England Student Woodworking Design Competition. Mr. Hudson enjoys, more than anything, seeing his students apply the skills they’ve learned to their own projects, and his pride stems from the pride shown by his students and their parents for their finished projects. As he often says, “It’s not a job when you love what you do.”

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by Len Lathrop The Birches Academy of Academics and Arts is one step closer to a September opening with the lottery that was held last Saturday. Senator Chuck Morse oversaw the lottery process of approximately 300 students who had applied for admission that had to be narrowed to the beginning enrollment of 88 students for grades for the one to eight. This Academy will be the first chartered school in

Salem. Charter schools are innovative public schools which have a unique educational philosophy that offers alternatives to traditional public schools. The schools are established by a “charter” which is a contract which deals with the school’s mission program goals the students they will serve in the ways they will measure success. New Hampshire charter schools report to the Department of Education and students are expected to meet or exceed all state academic requirements and to participate in standardized academic testing. From theirWebsite, “The mission of the Birches Academy is to provide a learning community that supports excellence in core academics and the odds while cultivating the individual qualities and strengths of each child. Help students realize their intellectual and social potential by providing individually planned instruction founded on each child’s individual qualities, strengths and innate curiosity according to an

individualized plan. A Personal Learning Plan (PLP) will be created for each child taking into consideration the individual child.” Saturday’s event was just another step in the process for a September opening. The school had received approval from the state Department of Education in January, has hired Dr. Dael Angelico–Hart as the head of the school who brings her 30 years of experience in many phases of education to not only lead to school but to also establish the Birches Academy. Dr. Angelico- Hart has begun the process of looking for educators to act as teachers while board members are firming up locations for the school. One of the founding parents Paula Patton mentioned that currently two locations are being reviewed an announcement should be made shortly about the wonderful site that the school will occupy.

Funding for this academic project began with

the awarding of a $600,000 startup grant from the Department of Education. In addition the school will receive $5,450 per student from the state; additional funds needed will be secured via grants fundraising and donations. For more information about this exciting new program in Salem visit www.birchacademy.org or their Facebook page www.facebook.com/birchesacademy.

Jay Hudson Named Teacher of the Year by New England Association for Woodworking Teachers